


Loyalty

by somekindaspacecadet



Series: Decamber 2020 [2]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Academy Era, Decamber, Gen, The Deca - Freeform, i was certainly channeling some Energy when i wrote this, takes place way before Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27854366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somekindaspacecadet/pseuds/somekindaspacecadet
Summary: Rallon confronts Vansell for making a decision that got the Deca caught in the crossfire.
Relationships: Millennia (Doctor Who)/Rallon (Doctor Who)
Series: Decamber 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037277
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Loyalty

**Author's Note:**

> Day two of Decamber. Thanks again to @starryeyedgazer!
> 
> To give a little context, Vansell and Rallon were assigned roommates. Vansell has an apprenticeship with the CIA because he wants to work for them after he graduates. And Theta and Kos are about 13 and are living terrors, but maybe we don't need to expel them about it.

When Vansell finally made it back to their room, Rallon was standing there, leaning against his desk. Arms crossed, face wiped clean, the orange lamplight emphasizing the bags under his eyes. And it made Vansell’s hearts stop, because that meant he knew.

“Vansell.”

“Rallon.” Vansell let out a nervous chuckle and closed the door behind himself. He spread his hands in front of him and took a step forward, trying to relax his shoulders. “I’m glad you’re up. I can explain everyth--”

“It had better be a damn good explanation.” Rallon was in front of Vansell’s face in a millisecond, his eyes dark, his jaw set and voice heavier than Vansell had ever heard it. “Because the other nine of us just spent the last two hours in an academic appeal hearing, in front of Borusa, begging for him not to throw Theta and Koschei out into the fucking street. A hearing you conveniently missed out on.”

Rallon was one of the better telepaths in the Deca, but right now the anger rolling off of him in waves wasn’t even somewhat contained. It made Vansell’s skin sting. “You know it’s my duty now as an apprentice to the CIA to monitor those around me and to report my findings,” he offered, voice thin. “I can’t neglect my responsibilities.”

“Oh, so reporting a couple of children for- for what, having scuffles in the hallway and getting bad grades is your responsibility now?” Rallon scoffed and leaned back, throwing his hands up in the air. “What about your responsibility to the Deca, huh? What about sticking together and keeping the kids safe? Does any of it mean anything to you anymore, or are you too busy playing spies to care?”

Vansell scowled. “I resent that. I take my career path incredibly seriously. I would never have done anything if I hadn’t felt that it was absolutely necessary. For the good of the Academy, and the Chapter.”

“The Academy and the Chapter are nothing without the people they exist to protect. And it seemed way too easy for you to try and get two of those people expelled for literally no reason.”

“As I tried to explain, I had my reasons--”

“No. You didn’t.” Rallon clenched a fist. “You know what I think your reasons were, Vansell? I think you wanted to look pretty in front of your new supervisors in the Capitol. I think you’re trying to convince Borusa and the Cardinals that you’re some kind of golden child, to cover up the fact that you’ve literally never done anything to contribute to this place since the day you walked in the door. And we gave you chances. We let you in. We supported your goals. But now that you’ve shown you’re okay with stepping on a couple of children to reach those goals?” Rallon shook his head and laughed. “I’m not sure if that’s something you can come back from.”

Vansell’s throat tightened. He said nothing for a few long moments, and Rallon let him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Prove it.”

“Just- listen to me.” Vansell sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “I know you don’t want to, and that’s perfectly understandable. But you have to believe me when I say-- of course I care about Theta and Koschei. And Ushas. And you, and everyone else. Of course I do. I don’t want them to be expelled, I only…” He shook his head. “I was doing what I thought was right. And to be perfectly honest, the fights, the cheating-- I can’t just sit by while that sort of thing happens. I’m just saying they need to learn from their mistakes.”

“Yeah. Yeah, when someone makes a mistake, you talk to them, Vansell. You help them do better next time. You don’t sell them out behind their backs!” Rallon’s voice was starting to sound hoarse. “I can’t sit by while you fuck around with kid’s lives.”

“Did they…” Vansell shifted his weight. “What did the Cardinal decide?”

Rallon rubbed his temples. “We managed to convince him to let them go with just a short probation and a strike on both their records. I think the Deca staying together is still too valuable to him. We look good on paper. But he’s going to be breathing down all our necks for a long while, that’s for certain.” He glared. “And the Deca is important to me, too. Too important for me to risk breaking us apart over this. So I’m going to give you the chance to tell me right now what you’re going to do to fix this.”

“I-- fix this? What am I supposed to do?”

“Talk to Borusa. Kiss some asses. Do whatever it is you do to get us back in their good graces and keep Theta and Kos in the Deca. Pull your own weight for once, or I’ll call for a dismissal vote and we can find someone else to carry it for you.” Rallon snatched something up from the desk behind him. “Hold out your hand.”

“What?” Vansell extended his palm and Rallon dropped the small, cold piece of metal into it. “What is this?”

“My room key.” Rallon bent down and picked up a bag Vansell hadn’t noticed there before under the shadows of furniture. He shouldered it and regarded Vansell from the few inches of height he had over him. “One of the rooms down the hall got emptied last week. Mill and I are taking it.”

Vansell swiveled to watch Rallon as he strode towards the door and twisted it open. “Oh.”

“See you in temporal engineering, Vansell.” Rallon’s voice shifted to a quieter note, for only a moment. “Don’t fuck this up. Don’t prove me wrong.”

Before Vansell could pull a reply from his mouth, the door was closed, and he was alone.

Rallon had cleaned out the room in his meticulous way, leaving his side spotless. Standard issue dressings on the bed, not a speck of dust on the desk and chair and windowsill. Probably not so much as a pencil left in a drawer, Vansell guessed, although he wasn’t going to check.

He’d have to get used to this, he thought. But maybe Rallon was right. Maybe it wasn’t too late to make things better. Maybe a solution wouldn’t be too hard to find. Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Maybe in a month this would blow over.

Vansell dropped his official CIA file copies on his own desk, and before dropping silently into bed, he reached over and switched off the lamp Rallon had left on. In the dark, strained his ears to hear Rallon’s footsteps outside, and heard nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: @wild-endeavor :)


End file.
